Lahm urges Bayern to heed Arsenal 'warning'

Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has urged his side to heed the "warning" of last season's UEFA Champions League clash with Arsenal.

Published

16 February 2014

The two clubs are set to meet again in the this year's round of 16, with the first leg taking place on Wednesday, but memories of how Arsene Wenger's men almost ended the Bundesliga outfit's European dreams at the same stage last term are still fresh for Lahm.

After Bayern claimed a 3-1 first-leg victory at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal moved into a 2-0 lead at the Allianz Arena but missed out on the crucial third goal that would have sent them into the quarter-finals.

The Bavarians went on to lift the trophy, and Lahm has called for more focus this time around.

"That game is a warning sign to us," he told The Guardian. "We had been very good in London, we thought nothing can happen to us in the return leg.

"All of a sudden you are 2-0 down and there are still some minutes to play. It shows that things can go really quickly in the Champions League. We will have that in the back of our minds."

Lahm also claims that hurt in previous seasons has made Bayern even hungrier to retain the Champions League trophy - a feat yet to be achieved in the modern era of the tournament.

"This team didn't just happen to win the treble (in 2013)," he continued. "It was a lengthy road.

"We lost two Champions League finals in 2010 and 2012, we were only champions once in three years.

"We know where we have come from and how hard it has been to get to that point. It's not in this team's character to give all that up again, to simply throw it away.

"We have experienced getting rewarded for hard work and are hungry to do so again."